Boreal Expression Session wrap-up

That’s it. That’s all. Time to go home folks. The park crew has built the final junkyard feature, the judges are cold and tired, the prize lockers are empty, the pizza ovens are cooling down and the competitors have nothing left to express. The 2012 Boreal Expression Sessions are officially a wrap.

For those that still don’t know, Boreal’s Expression Sessions are an annual series of four events open to skiers, riders and now snow skaters of all ages and ability levels. This year’s theme for the series – Junkyard Jams – means each event revolved around some sort of object that was plucked from a nearby junkyard and dropped into the middle of Boreal’s world class terrain parks. For anyone that has attended too many rail jams in their life, these beautifully chaotic events are a refreshing and welcome change.

Here is a recap of how the action unfolded this season – in reverse.

Expression Session IV: The Junkyard – April 6, 2012
The fourth and final installment of the 2012 Expression Sessions combined all three features into a junkyard slopestyle course. The Boreal Park Staff also threw in an up-stair set, a giant down-wall, a tire bonk, a 6” round bar and a small tabletop for excitement. The smorgasbord of features and the creative design of the course actually reminded me more of a junkyard than any slopestyle course I have ever seen. The rules were simple: only one drop at a time and best two runs out of three is the winner. By the end of the night I don’t think there was a single conceivable line through the course that the riders didn’t find. At one point a rider even exited the course in the middle of his run in order to get a fresh angle on a previously unfound transition. As the comp wound down and the temperature dropped to sub-arctic levels many of the competitors ran to the lodge for free pizza and wait for awards. In the end, four new riders topped the podium and took home armfuls of swag ranging from sunglasses to new boards, including Sawyer Deen, Matty Britton, Caleb Bonneville and Femke Henriques.

Men
1st – Saywer Deen
2nd – Jordan Wells
3rd – Jordan Welter

Teen
1st – Matty Britton
2nd – Shawn O'Neil
3rd – Quinntin Butler

Grom
1st – Caleb Bonneville
2nd – Randy Butler
3rd – Elias Maas

Women
1st – Femke Henriques
2nd – Cali Doetler
3rd – Kasandra Dolan

Expression Session III: The Rust Bucket – March 9, 2012
Expression Session III featured the “Rust Bucket,” a seven-foot diameter tube measuring ten feet in length. The 34 riders and snow skaters ranging in age from 7 to 37 were given the second 40-minute heat to strut their stuff in front of the largest Expression Session crowd of the year. With DJ Squarefield Massive busting beats and J*Ras, a local reggae artist, on the mic, there was electricity in the air throughout the night.

The riders came out hot with a heavy dose of pivots and stalls. As the competition heated up the crowd was witness to a wild array of tricks ranging from miller flips and wall rides, to shoulder rolls and hand drags. Eventually Matt Busedu and Tasha Tagucka once again added to their board collection by finishing in first place, as they did in Expression Session I.

Expression Session II: Shred Bull – February 10,2012
The second Expression Session introduced the “Shred Bull,” a giant spool that at one point was used to transport the wire for one of Boreal’s lifts. The snowboarders were given the first heat and the first shot at taming the wild feature. Each heat started off somewhat slow as the competitors racked their brains to figure out what exactly they were going to do with the awkward feature perched eight feet up on a glorified spine; however, by the time each heat ended the spectators in attendance were treated to a variety of approach angles, bonks, slides, inverts, spins and even a few epic crashes. Newcomer Bob Abrams secured first place in Men’s board and a brand new GNU Park Pickle when he aired over “Shred Bull” and blunt slid down the opposing side.

Expression Session I: The Pill – January 13, 2012
The first Session set an all-time ES record when nearly 90 competitors showed up to try and swallow “The Pill,” a 1,000-gallon propane tank with a fancy paint job. As soon as the competitors were given the go ahead complete mayhem ensued. Literally. Skiers, riders and snow skaters dropped from every angle and with no particular method to their madness.

As the heat progressed, so did the tricks. Before it was all over, those lucky enough to be in attendance witnessed multiple crashes, collisions, one-footed attempts and a dizzying array of inverts and spins. Matt Busedu and Tasha Tagucka eventually took home new decks from Lib-Tech and GNU for their first place finishes in Men’s and Women’s snowboard.